The elevator that took Zhang Xiaoyu had arrived on the first floor, yet she didn"t step out of the elevator at all. As she found that n.o.body else took the elevator, she pressed the b.u.t.ton back to the 12th floor. Then, she enthusiastically ran back to the door of the 1206 presidential suite and knocked on the door.
"Hey, Xiaoyu, aren"t you sending my clothes to the dry cleaner? Why are you coming back now?" Zhang Xinya was holding a mobile phone with earphones plugged into her ears as she stood by the door.
Zhang Xiaoyu squeezed into the room and excitedly said, "Guess who I just b.u.mped into in the corridor, big sis?"
Zhang Xinya charmingly rolled her eyes in response to her words. With a lack of interest, she closed the door and went back to the sofa in the guest part.i.tion. She then plugged in another earphone to her ear with a downcast manner, "No matter who you just b.u.mped into, could you just please go and dry-clean our clothes? If you can"t get them done before we leave the day after tomorrow, just be careful, for I"ll punish you by having you stare at me having a meal!"
Zhang Xiaoyu dumped the shopping bags in her hand on a single sofa and then strode to the front of Zhang Xinya"s side and sat down. Then she said, "I dare swear on tonight"s dinner that you"ll definitely regret it if you don"t hear me, Big Sis."
After saying that, she then realized that the sound coming from Zhang Xinya"s earphone was very loud. She immediately pulled one of the earphones out and repeated what she just said.
"You do know that I"m in a bad mood, right? So, hurry up and say what you wanna say," said Zhang Xinya helplessly. "I can at least have my mind distracted by listening to music."
"You see, I just saw the person"s picture on your mobile"s screen," said Zhang Xiaoyu seriously.
The person"s photo on my mobile photo?
Zhang Xinya only spared a bit of attention to it and was preparing to plug the earphone into her ear again. But her stunning face suddenly froze and even her hand that was just lifted up turned stiff.
Tang… Tang Xiu?
Zhang Xinya abruptly got up and stared at Zhang Xiaoyu before hurriedly asking, "Are you worried that I"m always in a bad mood, so you wanna make fun of me? Or did you really just see… him… Tang Xiu?"
"I dared to swear before, didn"t I, Big Sis? How could I crack a joke just to tease you?" said Zhang Xiaoyu with all seriousness. "I really just saw the man that is on your mobile"s screen in the corridor. He"s very handsome and was followed by six males."
"He also came to Qinglin County and stays on the same floor of this hotel?" muttered Zhang Xinya in a jubilant mood. "Quickly tell me, Xiaoyu, which room is he staying in?"
"I dunno which one, though. I just saw those men and thought that they are not good people, so I avoided them and hid." Zhang Xiaoyu shook her head and said, "I only saw their backs afterwards. I didn"t even see which room they went in."
Zhang Xinya quickly unplugged the earphone on the other ear before she grabbed her cell phone and headed outside at a jog. As she came to the empty corridor, she wandered for short while before she saw Zhang Xiaoyu and came running to her hurriedly. "Xiaoyu, go to the first floor"s reception counter and ask the staff where Tang Xiu is staying… No, never mind it, I"ll go there myself."
She rushed toward the elevator after saying that.
In presidential suite 1208.
Tang Xiu took two cans of beer from the refrigerator and threw one to Long Zhenglin before saying, "I gave the name of another man for you to ask around about. Got any result on this guy?"
"w.a.n.g Rui?" asked Long Zhenglin curiously.
"Yeah, that w.a.n.g Rui. I heard that he"s from Qingcheng Mountain, though I don"t know much about his origins," said Tang Xiu. "But this guy is quite powerful and he should also be someone rich. His style is kinda similar to w.a.n.g Tao like you told me since he always has bodyguards around and is kind of a flaunt."
"I asked around several times but never heard any news on this guy." Long Zhenglin shook his head and said, "I think he shouldn"t be a public figure in Qinglin County."
Tang Xiu"s expression moved suddenly as he had a thought in mind. He immediately got up and said, "Stay here and wait for me as l go see w.a.n.g Tao now. Maybe, I have a way to get the Red Silk Flower from him."
A few minutes later, Tang Xiu left the hotel with Mo Awu. He didn"t see Zhang Xinya who was asking the receptionist at the hotel lobby. Of course, Zhang Xinya herself didn"t notice Tang Xiu as she didn"t even look back and was full of antic.i.p.ation for the receptionist"s reply.
The southern munic.i.p.ality of Qinglin County.
There was a single villa building with its own entrance and courtyard. The European-style villa had three floors and looked extraordinary stylish with its two-meters high surrounding walls and painted gla.s.s, emitting out a blurry but radiant glory of the setting sun"s radiance.
In the courtyard outside and inside the guard post, two security guards in black uniforms were smoking cigarettes while having a chat.
"Honk, honk…"
A car"s horn sounded and disturbed the two security guards inside. They pinched out the cigarette b.u.t.t and one of them walked out of the post to see a brand-new black car parked outside, before asking, "What are you doing here? This is a private residence; strangers are not allowed to enter without permission."
Mo Awu got out from the car and ignored the security guard. Instead, he came to the rear of the car and opened its door. As Tang Xiu stepped out of the door, he looked around before s.h.i.+fting his gaze to the security guard and said, "I"m looking for w.a.n.g Rui."
The security guard was stunned and then replied with creased brows, "Who are you? This place is the residence of our young Boss, w.a.n.g Tao. w.a.n.g Rui doesn"t live here."
"It"s as I guessed."
Tang Xiu smiled inwardly, yet wore a nonchalant expression. "I know w.a.n.g Rui doesn"t live here, so I"m going to see w.a.n.g Hao first. Pa.s.s the message that my name is Tang Xiu."
The security guard looked at Tang Xiu suspiciously. He faintly sensed that the young man in front of him had an extraordinary status judging from Mo Awu"s att.i.tude towards Tang Xiu. He hesitated for a while before he nodded and said, "Please wait here for a while. I"ll go inside and ask."
Inside the villa building, the pale w.a.n.g Tao was sitting on the sofa, looking lackadaisical with a lazy air emitting out of his whole being. His eyes were staring at the TV, but his pupils looked distracted and not focused on it. He obviously wasn"t even watching the TV series at all.
"Young master w.a.n.g, a security guard just came in and said that someone is paying you a visit." A capable-looking beautiful woman in a grey suit walked inside and reported.
w.a.n.g Hao came back to his senses and looked confused, "What did you just say?"
The capable woman repeated the words she just said and continued, "The security also informed that the person was looking for w.a.n.g Rui at first, but then said that he"d like to see you since w.a.n.g Rui doesn"t live here."
w.a.n.g Tao frowned. After a few seconds in silence, he said, "Let him come in, since he"s looking for w.a.n.g Rui."
"Alright!"
A few minutes later, Tang Xiu strode into the villa and looked at the young man sitting on the sofa. His eyes gleamed and he could confirm that this young man was w.a.n.g Hao who seemed to have some illness.
"May I know who are you?" asked w.a.n.g Hao, who still sat while looking at Tang Xiu.
Tang Xiu let out a small smile and answered, "Tang Xiu from the Magnificent Tang Corporation."
Magnificent Tang Corporation?
w.a.n.g Hao was stunned and his expression slightly changed. He put on his slippers and stood up, then smilingly said, "I see, you"re the Big Boss of the Magnificent Tang Corp., Tang Xiu. No wonder why I felt vaguely familiar with the name the security guard reported to me! May I know why are you coming to this small place, and also visiting this humble abode of mine?"
Tang Xiu shook hands with him. After the two men took a seat on the sofa, Tang Xiu said, "I"m actually looking for w.a.n.g Rui this time. He has rescued a subordinate of mine in the battle in the South China Sea and he also lost some of his men, so I made a special trip here to thank him and talk about something else."
"The battle in the South China Sea?"
w.a.n.g Tao seemed to recall something and quickly asked, "You mean my brother encountered some troubles in the South China Sea because he saved your subordinate, so then he had to fight those ability users?"
"Correct." Tang Xiu nodded.
w.a.n.g Tao looked at Tang Xiu"s face and his expression turned more respectful. Although he didn"t know the specific details of what had unfolded there, he also knew that the powerful figures in Qingcheng Mountain had lost miserably because of that incident. Even his big brother, w.a.n.g Rui, had to receive a severe punishment and was now locked up and facing a wall in Qingcheng Mountain to reflect on his mistakes.
"I"ve been trying to contact w.a.n.g Rui, but his mobile is off all the time, so I can"t get in touch with him," said Tang Xiu with a smile. "I heard him speaking about you, so I came to Qinglin County to find you, in the hope that I can ask you to pa.s.s him the news that I came here. Also, the elder who went with him that time is kinda heavily injured and I happened to obtain a certain medicine that has an excellent healing property."
In that instant, all the doubts and suspicions w.a.n.g Rui had toward Tang Xiu vanished. His big brother, w.a.n.g Rui, was indeed accompanied by an elder from Qingcheng Mountain who was responsible for protecting his safety. That old man was injured when they came back.
"Boss Tang, are you… also, someone who walks on the cultivation path?"
"I am." Tang Xiu nodded and asked, "Your brother hasn"t told you my ident.i.ty?"
"I don"t have the apt.i.tude to cultivate, so I don"t know much about cultivation." w.a.n.g Tao forced a smile and explained, "My brother is currently being punished by facing a wall in order to reflect on his mistakes inside the dungeon of Qingcheng Mountain after he came back, so he didn"t tell me anything. Brother… Big Brother Tang, may I ask you about the type of medicine you obtained, like whether it"s only effective for internal injuries?"
"What"s wrong? Now that I see it, your condition looks very serious." Tang Xiu smiled and asked, "You haven"t found any means to treat it yet?"
"You can see that I have an illness?" asked w.a.n.g Tao, surprised and amazed.
"If I can"t see it, then how can I be a cultivator?" said Tang Xiu. "Just looking at the color of your face, I can see that the cause of your illness should be from your kidney."
"He"s a cultivator?"
w.a.n.g Tao was shocked inwardly and looked fl.u.s.tered. He jumped up from the sofa almost abruptly and exclaimed, "You"re a Daoist cultivator? One who walks on the cultivation path to becoming immortal?"
"If one"s cultivation realm has reached a high level, it"s indeed possible to ascend and become immortal," said Tang Xiu with a chuckle.
w.a.n.g Tao furiously swallowed his own saliva and asked with a face full of hope and antic.i.p.ation, "Big Brother Tang, can you see whether I can also become a cultivator? Also… about my illness, could you help cure me? I… I-I"ll definitely repay you if you can cure me."